Portions of the Article Courtesy of Jefferson Athletics

OFFICIAL ONLINE PHOTO GALLERY OF 2019 CACC SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIPS

WATERBURY, Conn. (November 17, 2019) – Sophomore Ava Albergo scored the winning goal with 5:26 remaining as the Thomas Jefferson University women's soccer team (15-5) won its fourth CACC Championship with a 2-1 victory over Georgian Court University (14-6-1) at Post University on Sunday.

The Rams, who were the number one seed in the tourney, earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament. The bracket will be announced via a live selection show on NCAA.com on Monday, November 18 at 6 p.m.

Jefferson won the program's third conference crown since 2014 and its first since 2015. The Rams won back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015, as those two also came on the turf at LaMoy Field in Waterbury.

Georgian Court, which was playing in its third CACC final in the last four seasons, was looking to capture the program's first conference crown since 2017.

The Rams had two corner kick opportunities in the first 10 minutes but came up empty. Then, the Lions had sustained pressure on Jefferson for the next seven minutes, totaling five shots and three corner kicks but the Rams were able to keep the ball out of the net.

In the 27^th minute, the ball was sent ahead down the right side for freshman Laural Erick. Erick got a cross off towards the front of the cage. Senior MaryKate Ulmer got a foot on the ball and it went off a Lions' defender into the goal for a 1-0 Jefferson lead.

Georgian Court responded with three shots and a corner kick in the minutes following and was able to even the score in the 39^th minute on a nifty goal from Dana Fontana. The score remained 1-1 into halftime.

The Rams elevated their game to start the second, keeping the ball in the Lions' end for long stretches. Jefferson had the first five shots of the period, including one that went off the right post in the 72^nd minute. Just seconds later, GCU had a one-on-one opportunity in the Rams' end but graduate student Erin Tinneny came up with a crucial, point-blank save to keep the game tied.

With regulation time ticking under six minutes, Jefferson was awarded a corner kick. The kick ricocheted off of multiple players in the box and squirted out to Albergo, who blasted the ball off the crossbar and into the net with one bounce. The Lions had one final shot but it was high.

ABOUT THE CACC
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 14 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Concordia (N.Y.) College, Dominican (N.Y.) College, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University), Nyack College, Post University of Waterbury, University of the Sciences, and Wilmington University.